The objective of this project is to design, build, and test a Retractable Tether Instrument, based on space-qualified Tether (for de-orbiting spaceraft), that will partially retract and deploy multiple times on command to change the spacecraft drag. This will allow us to measure spatio-temporal variations of the extent and density of the plasma and so predict changes in spacecraft drag and orbits. The longterm goal is a commercialisable device that not only de-orbits spacecraft but also provides data to the proposed global ionospheric density network proposed in Projects 3.4 & 3.5
Project Chief / Partner Investigators:
Iver Cairns (Sydney – CI); Andrew Dempster (UNSW – CI); Joe Khachan (Sydney – CI); Jason Held (Saber Astronautics – PI); Andreas Antoniades (Saber Astronautics – PI)
